The Milwaukee Brewers won their home opener with ease on Thursday, but they had to do it without a key player.
The Milwaukee Brewers made a dominant statement to begin the 2026 season with a 14-2 Opening Day victory over the Chicago White Sox, but the news that preceded the game gave cause for concern.
Jackson Chourio, a young up-and-coming star outfielder for Milwaukee, had suffered a fractured left hand that compelled him to the 10-day Injured List.
Before Thursday’s game, president of baseball operations Matt Arnold spoke with the media about Chourio’s injury.
“Yeah, a little tough,” Arnold said. “Obviously, you know, he got hit in the WBC, and was dealing with a little bit of pain there, and then it showed up on a check swing the other day and was pretty meaningful.
“So, we got another image on it, and it looks like it's fractured very slightly,” Arnold added. “But it's something we want to be really cautious with because of how much he means to our team.”
Chourio was struck by a pitch in the afflicted hand by Clayton Beeter of the Washington Nationals during a March 4 exhibition game in the World Baseball Classic. Chourio walked off the injury and took first base, which initially indicated that the injury was not as serious as it looked.
However, further discomfort continued and became more pronounced when Chourio took a check swing in a recent exhibition game against the Cincinnati Reds. That led to an MRI, which displayed a small hairline fracture of the third metacarpal according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.
“Obviously, a tough blow for us; a tough blow for the kid because he's such a good person,” Arnold said. “He means a lot to our clubhouse, but, you know, hopefully we have him back really soon.”
Chourio, 22, has been very effective for the Brewers in his two years with the MLB roster. In 2024 and 2025, Chourio logged 20-plus home runs and 20-plus stolen bases. He has also proven to be a good defender and has been sound at each position in the outfield.
Chourio is expected to miss two-four weeks with the injury.
“Our medical team led by Blair Bundy and Brad Epstein and all those guys do a wonderful job, and they were on top of this,” Arnold said. “And it was a little bit sore and felt like maybe it was something he could play through, and again, just got a little bit re-aggravated on that check swing against the Reds and showed up on an image.”
Arnold made it clear that the organization is trying to strike a balance between getting Chourio back on the field as soon as possible but doing it in a responsible fashion.
“Look, we want to try to accelerate this thing as fast as we can, but we want to do it responsibly,” Arnold said. “So, you know, he's going to dictate that timeline, and we want him to be honest with us about how he's feeling, and if there's a chance for him to come back sooner, we'll do everything we can to get him there.”
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